A Bit of a Concern

This morning Tanya received a phone call from Zhanna. Zhanna said that Ella said she didn't want to go to America afterall. Whoa! What happened?

Obviously, we were all concerned. Tanya called Vanya and relayed the message to him. He was very reassurring and told us that this sometimes happens with the older kids. He told us not to lose heart, but to go to the orphanage as normal today and try to talk to her and find out what's going on.

When we arrived we were told that Zhanna and Ella were having a party with their group and we were to wait in the teacher's room. We waited for quite awhile and then they arrived with their friend, Julia. Julia has been to the U.S. several times and is about to be adopted, so she knows English pretty well. Ella came and gave me a hug, but was quiet and non-communicative. One of her teachers came in right after that and said something in Russian that we couldn't understand, and Ella left. This teacher tried to explain something to us, but we didn't understand at all, so Zhanna just told her that we didn't understand (or that we were extremely handicapped, or something to that effect?!).

We spent some time with just Zhanna, and Julia translating. We told Zhanna that we loved her and Ella so much and we want to give them a good home and a good family in America. But we can't take one without the other. That Ella had to decide to come to America, too, or we wouldn't be able to take Zhanna, either. We shed some tears, and Zhanna was so sweet. She just wrapped her arms around me and laid her head on my shoulder.

Then all the children were called outside to practice for tomorrow morning's program. We enjoyed watching them practice. Zhanna and Ella and Julia sing a beautiful song together.

After the practice the girls came over to us and Ella immediately put her arm around me and held on. I hugged her and kissed her. Zhanna and Ella and their friends said they wanted to go up to their "group," or their living area. On the way through the dark hallways of the orphanage Ella held my hand. I asked her directly, "Ella, do you want to go to America?" She answered, "Yeah." I said, "Are you sure?" She said, "Yes." I hugged her and told her that I was SO happy. It brought Mark to tears.

The best we can figure about all this is that it has been a long week for the girls. It's the last week of school, and they've had the end of all their classes and tests. Then they've been practicing everyday for this performance. Plus, we've been coming every afternoon to hang out and play with them. Maybe Ella was just feeling a lot of stress about it all. Maybe some of her friends were trying to convince her not to leave. Perhaps she's just a little fearful of the unknown and leaving all her friends here. She did ask if they could sing and dance in America, and if we could come back to visit Ukraine. We assured her that yes, singing and dancing is allowed in America, and we will make every effort to come back to Ukraine.

After that, we spent a great couple of hours with the girls in their living area. They turned their favorite music up real loud and we all danced and got "crazy!" They had some balloons, so we kicked the balloons around like soccer. The girls confiscated our camera and video camera and took lots of pictures of their friends and their living area and bedrooms in the orphanage. I think it will mean a lot to them to have all those pictures later. Ella really relaxed and opened up. Several times she came over to show us pictures or to hug us. She wanted me to follow her into her room to see everything. She seemed happy and content.

We hope and pray that this was just an isolated event, and a fleeting emotional feeling. We do know that both girls will have to be certain of their decision by Monday when we go to court and meet with the judge. Please pray for Ella.

We did have a chance to reflect through all of this how it is the same with some people who have had every opportunity to come to know God and His hand of blessings and His plans for them, and yet they reject Him. It is so sad that some would not be willing to experience the love and peace and joy and hope that await them, but instead would continue to live life as they've come to know it, without understanding what they are giving up. We need to pray for people all over the world to understand how God longs to adopt each of us and how He longs to bless us beyond what we can see and imagine in this life.

We are walking by FAITH and not by SIGHT in this entire journey. May God be glorified. Tomorrow will be a good day, with the program in the morning and then Valya and Viki coming in the afternoon. We look forward to that.

Blessings and peace from God the Father, to all at home.
All our love,
Dawna and Marka (How they prounounce our names here in Ukraine!)